


1 at a Gotham Bar

by Featherly



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Bars and Pubs, Fluff, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 07:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13406025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherly/pseuds/Featherly
Summary: Jason finds Dick shitfaced at a bar and takes him home, wondering just why Dick was doing it to himself.





	1 at a Gotham Bar

Gotham had a plethora of bars, all open late for the alcoholics pleasure. Jason didn’t particularly have a favourite spot and in fact tried to frequent as many as he could. He stayed away from the shadiest, but being Gotham made this difficult, though sometimes he just didn’t care.

He didn’t drink every night, at least not recently.His fake ID was passed around for around a consecutive month before Jason decided to back off a little, mostly because he was attaining an immunity to the damn drinks affects.

He hardly ever saw anyone he knew as Jason (though there were plenty Red Hood would have known,) but when he did they were either only aquainted or he was able to evade their eye. The closest person to Jason seen in one of these bars was Batman, but he hid from the dark knight well enough. Now THAT was a confrontation he wanted to avoid.

Jason was used to avoiding the eyes of the sleaze of Gotham every time he entered a bar; he would make his way to the bartender with his eyes down and his head covered, usually by a cap. He would sit on a spare stool and stare at the wooden slab in front of him. He would order a glass of bourbon, or whiskey, or rum, mixed with coke, no ice. He would plant his cash, throw it back, and order another. After three glasses he would nest his drink, sipping it slower. His head became slightly clearer, and the euphoria was fantastic.  
He avoided confrontation usually, though sometimes he would be offered drugs by regulars. He always politely declined, and the dealers always backed off with no issues. Jason was an underage alcoholic, but he decided at a young age he wouldn’t use drugs. After his mother, who could blame him?

Jason walked into a random bar in Gotham on no particular night, a Friday, 1 oclock in the morning. He kept his eyes on the ground, his head down, his hands in his pockets, and sat down on a spare stool right near where the bartender was mixing a drink. He kept his head down, and when the barman asked for an ID he gave it without hesitation. He took it back, put it in his pocket, all without making eye contact.  
“Rum and coke, short, double strength.”  
He sat and waited for his drink, downing it the second it was placed down. “Another one please.”  
The barman topped up Jason’s drink and asked “Gonna pay for them or what?”  
Jason silently passed his card over. “Just tap it, but give me every reciept.” The barman nodded and topped up Jason’s drink when he finished the glass.

Jason stared at his third drink, not even slightly dizzy yet. He sighed, took a sip, and put it back down. He hated how he always found himself in a bar alone at the end of the night every single weekend, especially when the thought of the Golden Boy and the Replacement seemed to cross his mind every... Single... Time.

He downed his drink quickly, ordering two more ( “Forget the coke though.”)  
He had his shots in front of himself and downed the first one. The barman watched him as he cleaned another glass, but Jason didn’t mind. He shivered, the bitter taste hitting the back of his throat hard. “Make it a whiskey next” said Jason in a clear sober voice.  
“Sure thing” he said to Jason, and then to the patron two seats away from him “I think you’ve had enough bud.”

A glass slammed down on the counter violently. “You dunno that, MISTER.”  
Jason glanced out of the corner of his eye and did a double take when he realised the face was familiar. It was sideways and half was covered by a long fringe, but Jason could never forget it. “Dick?” he said out loud. He didn’t mean to react. Maybe it was the alcohol.

“Hwau-?” asked the tired intoxicated Dick. He sat up in his stool, almost falling back, but he stabalised himself even without the assisting hand on his back. “The hell are you doing here? How’d you even get in?”  
“Through the front door. What are you doing here?” Jason stood, towering above the sitting boy. He bent and searched for Dick’s eye contact.  
“What-tsit to you?” he was slurring and just wouldn’t make eye contact. 

“He hasn’t even paid” said the Barman with an unimpressed expression. Jason pointed to his card, to which the other man shrugged and tapped it to clear Dick’s tab. Jason reached out and took his card back, hastily forcing it into his front pocket.  
“Cmon” said Jason, taking Dick’s arm around his neck. He placed his other around the older boy’s waist, holding him against his hip. He took Dick outside, hoping the cool night air might sober him up a little bit. The older hero went along with no protest. Outside, Jason dumped the heavier-than-first-thought boy on a park bench, collapsing next to him.  
“You have a fake ID too?” asked Jason, tapping away instructions for an Uber on his phone. Dick could crash at his place tonight, mostly because he didn’t want to go to the manor at all, but also because he didn’t know where Dick lived now.  
“Yah, just got it. Ill be legal in a few months anyway.” Dick leaned his head on Jason, who would have moved it immediately if he didn’t feel the burning heat resonating off the older’s forehead.  
“How much did you have?” asked Jason with a sigh, “And you're not gonna puke in the Uber right?”

Dick shook his head. “I dunno, just started and kept going. Tasted gross but felt goooood.” A car pulled up next to them and Jason stood, resuming Dick’s position leaning against him.  
“Cmon” said Jason, dragging the drunk boy to the car. 

“You’re Jason?” asked the driver when his passanger door was opened.  
Jason threw Dick into the back, not caring much about seatbelts. From what he recalled, the batmobile didn’t even have seatbelts. “Yep” he said before closing the passanger door, taking his own spot in the front seat.  
“Is he okay?” asked the uber driver, glancing back with some concern. Most likely his concern came from the fact he had a passanger illegally thrown into the back of his seat and if he got pulled over he could lose his job.  
“Yeah he’s fine” said Jason, “Just drive. Sooner we get him back the better.

**

Getting Dick out of the car was a feat more difficult that Jason had initially anticipated. The driver was patient, though agitated. Jason tipped him a tenner when he finally managed to get the man who closely resembled soup out of the car. It drove away, leaving Jason and a floor-bound Dick on the side of the road in front of Jason’s apartment.

He threw Dick over his shoulders in a fireman’s hold, gripping him around the neck and around his upper thigh. “Cmon you dumbass” said Jason. He received a groan in reply and finally started towards the stairs. Three flights of stairs with this idiot on his back... “You owe me big for this” he said, leaning forward as he ascended.  
Outside his door Jason dropped Dick carefully next to him and fished through the front pocket of his hoodie for his key. He unlocked it and dragged the first boy wonder through by his arms.  
“Can walk yaknow” slurred Dick.  
“Well why dontcha?” asked Jason, a little annoyed. He pulled Dick up by the arms and dumped him on the three seater couch before disappearing into the kitchen.

Jason returned from the kitchen with a Water bottle and a slice of bread. Dick was already sat up, staring at the space underneath the small square coffee table. Jason dumped them on top of it and sat next to Dick. “So why were you alone at the pub tonight?” he asked casually. He didn’t want to show he cared,no matter how shitfaced the other was.  
“Whas-it ta you?” groaned Dick.

Jason took the bread in his hands and held it to Dick’s mouth. “Eat it. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”  
Dick took the bread in his own hand and munched on it. One large bite, and quite frankly the sight disgusted Jason. “Rich life too hard for you?” he asked with malice. He wasn’t mad at Dick at all for what had happened. He blamed Bruce, and he blamed the new Robin, whoever he was, but they weren’t there at the moment. Dick was.

Dick swallowed his bite and said “Rich life is fine, but the Nightwing life... Might have to give it up honestly.”

...Oh.  
Jason hadn’t prepared for that. They had been groomed since the age of 10 and 11 to be protectors of the innocent, defenders of justice. When Jason was robin, even he knew Dick was going to be the next Batman. He could see it in the older’s passion, his performance, his incomparible abilities. “You don’t mean that.”  
Dick took another bite and said “I do,” which spat crumbs down his front. Jason picked at them and placed them back into Dick’s mouth.  
“Don’t talk with your mouth full. God, if Al saw this he would have a fit.” He pulled at the crumbs on Dick’s chest and thighs, deliberately avoiding the crotch area.

“Ya missing some” Joked Dick.  
“I’m well aware” laughed the younger. He pulled his leg up underneath himself and leaned into the back of the couch, now facing Dick without having to turn his neck. “But really, you alright?”

Dick sighed and pulled both of his legs up into the foetal position. “It was just... Patrol tonight.”  
Jason noticed that his eyes didn’t leave the spot underneath the table. “What happened?” he asked affectionately.  
“Did Bruce ever swear at you when you were Robin?”

At least Dick actually realised who Jason was. “No. He was actually quite adamant when it came to swearing if I recall correctly.”  
“Yeah. Still is. But he did swear tonight, a lot.”  
Jason listened, looking for a sign that Dick wasn’t getting piss drunk because Batman said a few mean words to him.

“Someone died tonight. I did what Batman asked of course, but I focused on one thing for too long, and didn’t get to the next person in time, and then a bomb went off. A teenage girl died. She cant have been older than you Jaybird.” he subconsciously put a hand to his head.  
“Mistakes happen Dick. It’s not your fault.” he pulled Dick over so his head was resting on his broad shoulder and wrapped his arm around the older boy, rubbing his thumb along the other’s arm. Dick leaned in, but his gaze didn’t move from its spot.

“They're not allowed to happen in what we do. Someone died because of me.”  
“You snuck out?” asked Jason, changing the subject deliberately.  
Dick finally looked away from the carpet, looking instead ay the side of Jason’s head. “Duh. Bruce wouldn’t let me out to do some underage drinking...” something clicked in Dick’s head and he sat up straight. “Hey, what the hell were you doing there anyway. You’re only 18!”

Jason rolled his eyes and fluttered his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing it since I was 16, right after I finally hit that growth spurt.”  
Dick’s eyes widened and the corner of his lip curled. He raised an eyebrow and asked “Oh really?” he knew Jason was a little rebel, but he didn’t realise just how much a a rebel he had always been. “So you want liver cancer before you're even 20?”

Jason shrugged. He hadn’t meant for the questioning to turn onto himself. “Doesn’t make a difference really” he said as indifferently as he could manage.  
Dick gripped Jason’s chin and forced the younger to look at him. Jason pulled away, so Dick grabbed his head with both hands, forcing him to look into the elder’s eyes. “It makes all the difference in the world.”  
Jason threw Dick’s hands off with a huff. “To who?” Dick was drunk, this was pointless. Why hadn’t Jason gone to bed already. Why did he even bring Dick back here? To his own place?  
Dick looked at the ground next to Jason with half lidded eyes. His weight was being held by one of his hand, his upper body leaning into it, and if Jason hit it, Dick would fall to the floor. “Bruce misses you you know. He says so every day. And Tim wants to meet you. And I miss you too.” Dick looked at Jason, his mesmerising eyes showing Jason’s own reflection. His heart skipped a beat, but Jason refused to show it. 

“It’s not your fault” said Jason as if there hadn’t been a conversation between the previous one and their current one.  
“It is” said Dick, throwing the crusts of his bread onto the table, though they hit the edge and fell to the floor. He stared after it for a moment, then lay himself down so his calves dangled over the edge of the arm of the couch. He rested his head on Jason’s thigh, and though this surprised Jason, he allowed it.  
He scratched his fingers through Dick’s hair, and when the even breaths of sleep began, Jason whispered ‘It’s not your fault.

Jason maneuvered himself so he could lie down but keep Dick’s head where it was. He didn’t want to disturb the boy more than necessary.  
He planted his own head on Dick’s stomach, right next to his hip, and fell asleep after some time. The thoughts of his and Dick’s short conversation didn’t leave his head. The replacement, Tim, wanted to meet him. The former robin. The current red hood. He thought of how a confrontation with Bruce would go, now that he was a known killer.  
Would Dick tell Bruce where he had spent the night? It might mean telling him about the illegal drinking, but Jason figured Bruce wouldn’t find out, and if he did he would never bring it up. Lying was a part of being a Robin, and Dick had perfected it first.  
Jason turned his head slightly, using the passed out Dick’s hip like a pillow. He put his left hand next to Dick’s head, the other thrown across Dick’s stomach carelessly. “You’re too good for him Dick.”

**Author's Note:**

> I need more practise with this stuff. Any helpful comments or feedback are VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!
> 
> Also i know i described their position pretty badly, so if the link works here is a badly drawn iteration of what i meant which i made with my finger and a free app :)   
>  https://sta.sh/01v3mj037vyk


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